In honor of the Spring, we are sharing some of our florally-inspired items over the next several days. Enjoy the season—including the flowers which delightfully distinguish the Spring.
While decorative buttons and clasps have been used for centuries, the modern sewn-on button (with a buttonhole, as we know it today) is a fairly new development. It became common with the advent of ready-to-wear fashion, at the Turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century. Before that, most men's shirts would be pulled-over the head and, if fastened, would be closed with string, ribbon or fabric ties. In the Nineteenth Century, cufflinks and shirt studs replaced ties to close or fasten men's dress shirts. In the Twentieth Century, spurred-on by World War I, sewn-on buttons (convenient and quick) became more popular—and, eventually, ubiquitous.
In the Edwardian Era, when the cufflinks shown above were made, most men's shirts still required links to fasten-closed the cuffs. At that time, every man—prince or pauper—required cufflinks. As a result, cufflinks were made to suit every pocketbook. The faces of these gilt cufflinks are decorated with fields of flowers. One face is a clipped rectangle while the other is an oval (which makes it easier to slip though the buttonhole). Two different faces gives the wearer two options when dressing. Click on the photo above to learn more about them.
More Springtime flowers tomorrow and in the days to come.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248